What happened to Osmanbey?

Over the years, though, women began to flock to a variety of different shopping spots, while merchants turned their sights on outside markets. In fact, there is really only one thing that hasn’t changed about Osmanbey over the years, and that is the quality of the goods you can purchase there.

A group of young girls shower Neriman Teyze, a woman in her 80s, with compliments. After all, her outfit is both chic and understated in a manner that really strikes the eye. As for Neriman Teyze, her response to all this is clear and simple, “Everything I’m wearing is left over from when I was a young girl; they are all articles of clothing from Osmanbey.”

Even though people nowadays might not be aware of it, the fact is, doing one’s shopping in Osmanbey did not used to be something within reach of everyone. Dressing in clothes from Osmanbey used to distinguish the wearer from others. In those days, when you had purchased a piece of clothing from Osmanbey, it meant you had gotten yourself an heirloom. For years on end, Osmanbey was the place in İstanbul to find the most chic, the highest quality and, in fact, the most expensive clothing.

Actually, Osmanbey’s story stretches back to the 1960s and the Mudo store. Young businessman Mustafa Taviloğlu and a partner had opened up a store in Taksim. But after a while there, they moved their new store to Osmanbey. In fact, as the district began to develop, it didn’t take Mudo long to open up another branch. In those years, many non-Muslims lived in Osmanbey, and as the district developed it also suddenly became the most desired location for the textile market. Throughout the ‘60s, ‘70s and even the ‘80s, Osmanbey saw the intense interest and attention that malls such as Kanyon and İstinyePark do today. Not much in the way of advertising or even effort was necessary to promote Osmanbey’s popularity; the enduring quality of the goods one could buy there did this all on their own. In fact, there was (and still is) a phrase that vendors who want their goods to sell fast often shout: “These goods are from Osmanbey!” While this phrase may still be shouted out by anxious venders, though, the fact is, many things have changed over the decades in Osmanbey.

Osmanbey will be Abdi İpekçi

The economic crisis that started in the 1990s was a major factor in wholesale gaining ground in Osmanbey; it was then that the district stopped being the popular shopping spot that it used to be for women in this city.

At the same time, a whole new series of possible shopping locations popped up. Osmanbey more and more become a spot for foreign trade, an area where wholesale was the norm. For a long time now, this district has been one where fabric as well as men, women and children’s clothing is sold wholesale.

Thus, the shoppers that come here are more often less women looking to dress chicly, and more foreigners wishing to engage in trade. The president of the Osmanbey Textile Businessmen’s Association, (OTİAD), Ali Ulvi Orhan, explains who has largely begun to frequent Osmanbey over the years. “It was the Arabs who first discovered Osmanbey. In fact, in the 1980s Arabs began coming here to shop. In the 1990s, it was our northern neighbors and people from the Turkic republics. And in the 2000s, shoppers from African countries began coming here,” he says.

Already a well-known “brand” in national markets, Osmanbey has for some time been very active in foreign markets as well. And as the district becomes more and more international, there are certain changes that are inevitable in Osmanbey. For example, the sheer increase in the number of hotels in Osmanbey is striking. And Orhan also notes that in a short time, the district’s boulevards and smaller streets will be redone in the style of Nişantaşı’s Abdi Ipekçi Caddesi.

---

Osmanbey Fashion Days

Inevitably, Osmanbey fashion changes as the world around it does. As OTİAD’s Ali Ulvi Orhan sees it, Osmanbey will always make a name for itself within the world of fashion. He also asserts that clothing from Osmanbey is beyond local trends. Interestingly, a new patent has just been received for an Osmanbey brand for certain lines of goods. The right to use this brand name is to be granted to firms that are deemed deserving of representing Osmanbey. Other new projects, such as the upcoming Osmanbey Fashion Days, are also signs that the district of Osmanbey has not forgotten the local, national market around it. Though these days only about 15 percent of the goods produced in Osmanbey are actually for national markets, it is clear that this percentage will increase in the near future.